Learning Conversations

My youngest one is starting Kindergarten this Fall and on Friday, we attended a PALS (Parents As Learning Supporters) session at his new school. I love that the school is bringing in parents/guardians to see what kids will be doing in their classrooms and talking about the approach to learning – that we shouldn’t expect a highly academic focus, that children this age learn best by learning through play!

There will be four session in the PALS series – this first one was focused around the alphabet. We used stamps to make name tags, then stamp whatever words the children wanted. We made letters out of playdough. We played a matching game of upper case to lower case letters. And then we used “fishing rods” (with magnets at the end) to pick up “fish” (letters/pictures with paper clips on them). My son loved it all!

Then the children were ushered off to the community kitchen while the adults got a short lesson on preparing children for Kindergarten and the importance of reading. The speaker told us about making a point of talking about the parts of a book, of pointing out the title page, and of showing that we read left to right, starting on the left page. We heard about the importance of letting kids see us reading and having books in the house, so that they know that it’s a valued activity in our lives. And that, no matter what the language at home, just keep reading aloud to our children so that they are exposed to the rhythms, vocabulary and ideas that come from a variety of books. All wonderful stuff!

And then the speaker started talking about the importance of limiting “screen time” for our children – that good old fashioned books are critical for children…

I bit my tongue – didn’t want to be “that” parent on the first day, I guess!

But as I reflected on the morning’s experience, I put together some feedback via email to the Principal of the school (who I know quite well). I thought about learning through play and the role of technology in a primary classroom.

I completely agree with the importance of reading and also believe there needs to be a balance of appropriate screen time. But a recent post from Will Richardson got me thinking about what “balance” really means – particularly that balance isn’t about excluding technology…

It made me thing about the fact that, to this generation, “play” includes technology – and it should, because it is an important part of being a literate citizen. My children are not literate if they do not know how to read, write, communicate AND search for/assess the validity of information. That means that comfort with technology is just as important as comfort with writing instruments or any number of other tools that we equip our kids to use.

My point, to make a long story short, is that I believe it’s important to start shifting our attitudes to include technology as a part of play and learning, right from the beginning. Penny Lindballe tells the story of lingering societal prejudices against technology well in this post – it’s worth a read too!

There’s a reason we don’t wait until middle school to introduce a pencil, isn’t there? Time to treat technology the same way…

Having worked with and led project teams for many years, I’ve long believed in and experienced the power of diverse-group decision making.

Inevitably, teams of people, each bringing their unique perspectives to the table, come up with better, more complete, more creative and more successful solutions.

Here’s a video from YouTube that talks about this phenomenon:

In the educational realm, I think everyone has been off trying to come up with solutions by themselves – educators, administrators, parents, District management, Government Ministries.

Why is it that we don’t talk to each other as much as we could? From the outside, I get the sense that there’s a bit of that “leave it to the professionals” attitude.

Is it too much effort to try to coordinate schedules? Are we worried that it takes too much effort to include people uninvolved in the day-to-day operations of our schools? And then they can’t add value anyways? After all, what do parents know about what it takes to run a school? Or a District? And what do students know about what they really need from education?

And it’s hard to have completely open conversations and doors – because that might expose your weaknesses, or open things up for criticism. We are, often by nature, defensive – we want to put our best foot forward, not parade our challenges and weaknesses out for all to see! Do we really want the world to know that we don’t know how to solve a problem? Doesn’t everyone expect the “experts” to have all the answers? And really, doesn’t everyone have enough to do without opening another can of worms by asking people their opinion??

But are we sure that external partners don’t add value? Why would we think that kids are incapable of contributing to solutions about their own education? Another quote from Starbucks is that “the person who sweeps the floor should pick the broom!”

How much effort is it worth to come up with solutions that work? What if we had increased odds of finding successful ideas that everyone is invested in and working together on?

What if it resulted in kids engaged in their own learning? What if they were excited to come to school – to learn and create and work together?

What if parents felt involved and knowledgeable about what was going on in classrooms? What if they were passionate about supporting their children’s teachers? What if they could support and reinforce at home what their kids are learning in school?

What if teachers felt trusted and safe to make mistakes in their own learning and change efforts? What if they felt supported and valued by the parents instead of judged and attacked? What if they already had relationships with all the parents in their class and could easily call one up to discuss their child’s learning – without it feeling like “cold calling” someone you don’t even know (and who doesn’t want to hear from you!)?

What if Principals had time to build the team and the learning community relationships instead of being overwhelmed by the myriad of administrative tasks that swamp their days? What if they could do the same thing at the school level that they used to do with their classrooms (encourage, support each child’s learning, coach, bring out the best in everyone)?

How much more powerful would that make our education system?

And, as a result, how would that change education (having something taught TO you) into learning (participating in the learning process and learning WITH you)?

The way I see it, we can keep complaining about how the Government just doesn’t get the whole picture.
We can complain about how they just don’t understand that you can’t measure successful education using standardized tests.
We can gripe about how the teacher’s not helping MY child and nobody cares.
We can shake our heads at all the parents who never even come to parent-teacher interviews.
We can work all hours just trying to get all the forms filled out, the lockers assigned, the reports completed, the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed.

Or we can choose another way and actually TALK TO EACH OTHER! BUILD RELATIONSHIPS! COLLABORATE! AND LISTEN TO EACH OTHER!

It takes more effort, but isn’t it worth it?

I spent the evening yesterday at the retirement dinner for my District, representing our parent organization (District Parent Advisory Council – or DPAC). I was so pleased to be able to attend and to have the opportunity to speak to the group for a few moments – mostly because I think it’s important for all of the partners in the education system to celebrate together!

Here’s the speech I presented:

I’d like to thank the Board of Education for including DPAC in tonight’s event. Too often, we make the time to complain about all the little stuff but forget to celebrate all of the great stuff that’s going on!

So I appreciate this opportunity to be here on behalf of DPAC and the parents in this District, to say a few words about how much we appreciate the teachers, administrators and staff in our children’s schools.

I’m going to stick my neck out a little here – I’m pretty sure you weren’t in it for the money. And it certainly wasn’t for the fame! Which leaves me to believe that you did it because you care about the kid!

Every interaction with a child brings the opportunity to support, to coach, to teach, to care.

I remember one of my teachers who, while I was writing my final exam, leaned across my desk and whispered “I expect great things from you.” I was horrified – sitting there looking at the answer to my essay question, thinking “oh man, this isn’t great!!”  But his words have often come back to me over the years, reminding me to take risks, to take on challenges, to expect more of myself – because he showed me that he believed in me.

I have no doubt that every person in this room has had that kind of lifetime impact on children’s lives – often without even realizing it. It’s the natural result of caring – of taking a moment to listen, to encourage, to expect more, and to believe in young people who don’t know how to believe in themselves yet.

As a parent, I know that my children may drive me nuts sometimes – actually, they’ve probably driven their teachers nuts sometimes too! But I also know that they are these amazing little miracles that have been entrusted in my care for a short while. Bringing them to school and having them out of my protective arms is difficult sometimes – even though I know it’s a part of the “letting go” that has to happen as they grow to adulthood. It makes it easier to know that they are with staff, administrators and teachers that are both professional and caring!

Parents aren’t perfect, teachers aren’t perfect – we’re all human. But what matters is that we care and we keep learning. Because that is an incredibly powerful gift that we can give to the next generation – a living example of how to be perfectly imperfect human beings!

On behalf of all the parents in this District, I’d like to thank you! Thank you not only for caring, but for choosing a career that put that caring into action every day.

Enjoy your well-deserved retirement!

Aside from being the place that I often meet with people to talk about education, leadership, kids & life – I’ve also been learning a whole lot from Starbucks Coffee lately.

Starbucks Corporation puts out a Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report, complete with a summary brochure that they put out in each location, right behind the sugar/milk/lids/napkins…

The first time I noticed this brochure was in 2003 and it was the best mission/guiding principles document I had ever seen!!

• It started with a clear mission statement that explained WHY this company was in existence.
• It included six guiding principles that directly related to HOW they were going to focus their efforts in order to deliver on the mission statement.
• The inside of the brochure then went into detail for each of the six guiding principles – saying WHAT things they were doing and how they would tell they were succeeding.

What was so powerful to me was the fact that the mission was translated right down to what each person in the organization was doing on a day-to-day basis in order to contribute to that mission. Every person in that company, from the CEO all the way through stores all over the world, knows what they’re supposed to be doing, how they’re doing it and why they’re doing it – which translates into a sense of purpose that is incredibly inspiring.

This is what we all talk about doing – in project management seminars, in leadership training, all over the place on websites and in books. But it’s so darned HARD TO DO successfully!! I can’t say I knew how to achieve that clarity of vision for a team or organization, but I certainly recognized the power & possibilities.

So often, a mission or vision statement is too complex or so high level that it leaves everyone in the company thinking “well, that’s great but what does that mean?? What am I supposed to do? How does that relate to the work I do every day??”

I’ve watched Starbucks over the years to see if they walk their talk. Everything I’ve seen and heard has been completely consistent. Their staff are enthusiastic and committed. Their stores are definitely making money (which is, in fact, one of their guiding principles), but they’re also giving back to their communities, working to protect our environment, providing amazing customer service, and supporting diverse and sustainable coffee farmers.

I get a sense sometimes that educators dismiss the “corporate” world – thinking that “things are different” in education. Perhaps there is a sense that educators are serving a higher moral purpose than business – after all, schools are educating our next generation, not just making money like those big corporations.

But we don’t have to judge the global relevance of their purpose or even like the coffee in order to appreciate the lessons that we can learn from Starbucks! And there is so much knowledge out there that we can apply to education’s challenges. In fact, I think that this kind of diversity and open-minded thinking is what will allow education to move forward most effectively.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

The current Starbucks brochure caught my eye again, right with the first paragraph:

“It began as many good things do, with some heartfelt conversations. Sincere, forthright, perhaps a bit idealistic. We took a good hard look at our most cherished values and asked ourselves just how we’d integrate them into this new company we were about to create.”

As Pete Reilly mentioned recently, these passionate, slightly idealistic conversations are happening more and more in education these days. These are exciting times!

It’s overwhelming when we start looking at EVERYTHING that needs attention and funding and work in our public education systems!

I’ve been feeling a theme developing and I’m pursuing it with vehemence in my district.

It takes a community to raise our children – not one of us has the solution by ourselves and we’ve been spending too much time individually (or as separate groups) trying to fix it.

Collaboration and a single unifying vision will take us to the next level.

So, what I’m working on is:

1) Bringing every discussion, every planning exercise, all data collection, every tech plan back to a comparison of how it helps us move toward the best intellectual, social and emotional learning environment FOR EVERY LEARNER. Does this proposal enhance or detract from that vision?

2) Building bridges between partner groups (teachers, administrators, students, school boards, support workers, District management, parents, community groups, etc… When we all understand our roles in the system and the value we bring towards achieving our vision, then we can work together to find the REAL solutions that will work for everyone!

There is no ONE solution, no magic bullet.
We cannot do it ALONE.

The COLLECTIVE PASSION of educators, students and parents is more powerful than the bureaucracy that often stands in our way. Once we focus that passion, nothing will be able to stop us!

I started to write a comment on Pete Reilly’s most recent posting on EdTech Journeys and ended up with something a little too long – so I’ve turned it into a post here instead.

Pete wrote:

“In a recent blog post Scott Mcleod asks the question,

can anyone else think of an employment sector other than K-12 and
post secondary education where employees have the right to refuse to use technology?

It’s a great question and it provoked some good discussion; however is mandating technology use enough? Will it create the pedagogical changes we want, if put in the hands of educators whose personalities are not conducive to the classroom transformation we’d like to see?”

In response to Scott’s question – yes, I can think of one.  I worked for many years doing IT support and projects for the BC Court system – some of it specifically working with the Judiciary.

I find teachers have very similar attitudes and approaches as judges. Once in the courtroom – a judge is adamant about their “judicial independence”.  In other words, they must have the freedom to do their work without interference, including what technology tools they use, how they make their judgments, how they sentence, etc…

For teachers, it’s similar – from the perspective that teachers, once in their classroom, have very individual styles.  Their classroom culture, how they teach and whether they use technology cannot be mandated – they can be influenced, but not forced.

This naturally leads to the path for effective technology integration, in my opinion.

My experience is that teachers passionately believe in kids and, once convinced that something benefits their students, will move mountains to ensure their classroom & students have what they need.

Legislation doesn’t work.

We are all naturally selfish, from the perspective of needing to know how something will benefit ME and what I care about – before I will invest my precious time and energy into changing.

We must lead, we must inspire, we must coach and mentor, we must help teachers experience the power that technology can add to individualize learning, to honour each child’s learning needs and styles, to prepare them for the world today, to facilitate teamwork, creativity and critical thinking and to engage learners.

A reliable technology infrastructure is only the foundation, only the tool.

Training and traditional pro-d only help me “know” at an intellectual level what I “should” be doing.

My relationship with an inspirational leader and a supportive mentor is necessary for me to believe that change is possible and to begin to go from “knowing” to actually “doing” or “being”.

This isn’t anything that we haven’t talked about before, though.
So what’s standing in the way of making it real in all of our schools?

Is it lack of leaders?

Is it lack of time?  Everyone is overwhelmed by national testing requirements, legislative requirements, parent demands, new systems, less support for special needs, increasing ESL, lack of training, etc…

Is it a desire by decision makers to find “simple” solutions that don’t exist?  (i.e. The Western mentality that I want to go to the doctor and get a prescription that will make it all better)  So we fund one little piece at a time, then wonder why it didn’t work??

What do we need to change in order to start making real changes?  Who do we need to engage?